Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display device, and more particularly, to a thin display device with an improved esthetic sense.
Discussion of the Related Art
Recently, display devices that are replacements for early types of display devices, such as a cathode ray tube, a liquid crystal display device, a plasma display panel, an organic light emitting display device, etc. have been developed. Such display devices have increased in size while their weights and volumes have reduced, and their studies and developments have been continuously made in view of response speed and picture quality, whereby many advances in quality have been made.
In addition to the studies and developments in view of the above technical aspect, studies and developments in view of a product design that may appeal to consumers have been made recently. As an example, improved esthetic designs, which encourage a purchase by minimizing a thickness of a display device and at the same time appealing to a consumer's esthetic sense, have been continuously developed.
However, the related art display device has a limitation in minimizing a thickness and improving an esthetic sense due to its structural property. Hereinafter, the limitation of the related art display device will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 1. In particular, FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view illustrating a related art display device.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, the related art display device includes a display panel 10, a panel driver 20, and a case 30. The display panel 10 includes a lower substrate 12 and an upper substrate 14. Gate lines and data lines are also formed on the lower substrate 12 to define pixel areas, where the gate lines cross the data lines. In addition, a thin film transistor is formed in each area where the gate lines cross the data lines, and a pixel electrode connected with the thin film transistor is formed in the pixel area.
The upper substrate 14 is formed on the lower substrate 12. In order to apply signals to the gate lines and the data lines formed on the lower substrate 12, a periphery area at one side of the lower substrate 12 is exposed to the outside, such that the upper substrate 14 is not formed in the periphery area at one side of the lower substrate 12.
The panel driver 20 is formed in the exposed periphery area at one side of the lower substrate 12 to apply signals to the gate lines and the data lines, and the case 30 is formed to cover a periphery area of the display panel 10. As described above, because the panel driver 20 is formed in the periphery area at one side of the lower substrate 12, the panel driver 20 should be prevented from being exposed to the outside. The case 30 is used to prevent this exposure.
In this way, to prevent the panel driver 20 from being exposed, the case 30 is formed to cover the periphery area of the display panel 10. In view of a structural property of the case 30, the case 30 is formed above the upper substrate 14. However, using the case 30 in this manner causes problems as follows.
First of all, because the case 30 is formed above the upper substrate 14, a thickness of the display device is increased correspondingly. Also, because the case 30 is extended more than the upper substrate 14, a step difference occurs in a front surface of the display device, whereby an esthetic sense is deteriorated. Also, because the case 30 should prevent the panel driver 20 from being exposed, the case 30 has a minimum required bezel. For this reason, an esthetic sense of the display device is deteriorated.